Occasionally, our inner-vehicle to happiness takes a wrong turn and drives us right into a muddy mindset and an unfulfilling life condition; Other times, we are just plain hijacked by external forces that get kicks out of dragging us down the “highway to hell”. In either scenario, it’s up to us to win back control– We could forge through the valley of discontent while succumbing to its quicksand grip or take a humbling approach… actually roll our wheels into reverse in order to gain a broader perspective and direct ourselves down a new trail of opportunity. Examples of this might be accepting that time invested into a relationship is no longer viable, making it necessary to move on to a healthier one (or remain a free-agent), letting go of the idea that we must keep up with “The Joneses” by having that big, fancy dream house– maybe, foreclosure is imminent and that one-bedroom apartment isn’t the worst thing in the world, after all (who likes to mow a lawn anyway?)… or taking a lower-paying job while being beyond qualified for the position; Don’t interpret these moments as failure or our running with our tails between our legs, but one more chance to grow.

There is no shame in the game of expansion.

Learn about the transformation of Michael Gates Gill who went from being an Ivy League-educated advertising executive with a six-figure-salary to becoming a barista at Starbucks and, as a result of keeping a journal of his journey, the New York Times best-selling author of “How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege”:

Feeling lost and lonely? Did you just break-up with your sweetheart and exude hopelessness?

GET out of the HOUSE!!!

Staying in front of your computer, looking at all of the wedding pictures of your Facebook friends while torch singer, Adele, plays in the background will just drive you to early insanity.

You are not helping yourself by reliving your imaginary relationship that “could’ve been” instead of the reality of what it actually was.

Granted, there should be a grace period for taking in hurt… It better be no longer than two weeks though; This includes the respectable time frame of being solitary before beginning to date, again… HELL YEAH, I said it: Put up a front of (or show genuine) loyalty to your former-partner… JUST in CASE you make up. Otherwise, he or she will bitch and whine that you couldn’t even wait a few days before being back on the prowl.

Which brings me back to the healing process:

Even if your heart is not in it, having the distraction of other people and events in your face will More